Rotary heat exchanging apparatus



June 3, 1969 v. DUHEM 3,447,792

ROTARY HEAT EXCHANGING APPARATUS Filed March 24, 1967 INVENTOR VICTOR DUHBM I MR4; umv "10 42.21

ATTORNEYS 3,447,792 Patented June 3, 1969 United States Patent Office 3,447,792 ROTARY HEAT EXCHANGING APPARATUS Victor Duhem, Avon, France, assignor to Venot-Pic, a French concern Filed Mar. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 625,685- Claims priority, application France, Apr. 20, 1966, 58 394 Int. Cl. F27b 7/04 US. Cl. 263-32 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a rotary heat exchanging apparatus, of new design and simplified construction, which, by a considerable dispersion of the products within the body of the apparatus, allows a greater specific exchange than can be obtained by use of the standard apparatuses.

In thermal exchangers, the effect of maximum dispersion of the products is to increase the exchange of heat between the cold products and the hot walls and hot gases in the case of a heater or dryer, and between the hot products and the cold walls and cold gases in the case of a cooler, whether the exchangers are of surface or mixing type or of combined surface and mixing type, whether they operate on the counter-current or the parallel current system, or whether their operation is under vacuum, under pressure or at atmospheric pressure.

The present invention consists fundamentally of a means of obtaining this maximum dispersion by the formation of a heat exchanger body composed of a juxtaposition of independent closed enclosures.

The known rotary heat exchangers take the form of a body rotating onriding rollers. This body is'f'generally a steel cylindrical shell which may or may not be internally equipped with flow blades, chains or other elements which promote the heat'exchange or in which are fitted honeycomb-type pockets or all kinds of compartments, the cylindrical shell being in every case as long as the heat exchanging apparatus.

The present invention consists of a rotary body fundamentally composed of the juxtaposition of independent enclosures closed throughout their length, forming a bundle circumscribed by a circle or by any other geometric figure. The number of the enclosures is not limited, it is simply dependent on the extent of the thermal exchange. The dimensions and shapes of the enclosures are determined by the characteristics of the products to be treated. A cylindrical shell of reduced dimensions is only necessary at the feed end of the apparatus for the distribution of the products within the enclosures.

From the juxtaposed enclosures which constitute the invention, diverse embodiments can be obtained. It is possible to place a cylindrical shell around an assembly of enclosures, for purposes of heat insulation for example. Also a combination can be made in a single exchanger body, a certain length of the body being based on cylindrical shell construction and another length being of construction based on the juxtaposition of independent enclosures.

These enclosures can also be flow blades, chains or other exchange.

The construction according to the present invention equipped internally with elements helping the heat splitsup the products to be treated and increases, in the case of a heat exchanger, the surface area of the products exposed to the gases and also the surface area of the walls of the apparatus.

In addition, it provides the advantage of allowing a simplification of the supporting and drive components of the apparatus.

The usual rotary heat exchangers are generally borne by at least two riding track assemblies each composed of two rollers mounted on pillow blocks and a riding girth ring fitted on the cylindrical shell forming the body of the heat exchanger. The drive mechanism possesses a girth gear also fitted on the basic cylindrical shell.

The construction of the apparatus according to the invention enables one riding assembly-two rollers and a girth ring to be done away with and replaced by a pillow block bearing the central enclosure.

The standard drive mechanism-girth gear and pinion is also done away with and replaced by a drive fitted at the end of the central enclosure, either directly or by means of a coupling sleeve, a chain or any other system.

The use of a tubular body according to the invention thus allows a simplification of the construction, on the one hand as regards the platewonk, by the abolishing of a cylindrical shell as long as the body of the apparatus, on the other as regards the mechanism by the abolishing of a riding ring, replaced by a less costly pillow block bearing, and of a girth gear, replaced by a less costly and more easily installed drive mechanism.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, certain particularities and preferred embodiments are described below, by way of example, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows an assembly of juxtaposed elements according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a general view showing the riding and drive mechanisms and the relation between the length of the cylindrical shell at the feed end and the length of the body of the apparatus.

FIGURE 3 shows a section on the line AA of FIG. 2, illustrating the scoops for introducing the products into the enclosures.

FIGURE 4 shows a section on the line BB of FIG. 2, illustrating the heat exchange zone.

The rotary heat exchanger according to FIG. 2 is composed of a cylindrical feed end shell 1, a tubular body 2, a riding mechanism 3, a riding pillow block 4, and a drive mechanism 5.

The cylindrical feed end shell 1 is of known construction. The tubular body 2, on the contrary, is the basis of the present invention. In the example shown it is made from standard commercial round tubes, but they may be otherwise fabricated, of rolled and welded plate for example, or they may be of a shape other than round. The section of line B-B shows an assembly of tubes welded together; they might equally be assembled by bolts, keys, girth bands, etc.

In the embodiment shown, the tubes have the same cross-section, but the cross-sections may be different.

The section on line A-A (FIG. 3) shows an end view of the tubular bundle at the feed end. The tubes placed on radius R have scoops for the introduction of the product. These scoops are obtained by cutting away the ends of the tubes composing the body, so that the product coming from the cylindrical feed end shell arrives at the tubes tangentially and penetrates within them after a rotation of to 200 of the body.

The central tube has a cruciform member collecting the overflow from the other tubes.

In the embodiment shown, the number of tubes is seven. A tubular body having a greater number of tubes may be provided with several cylindrical feed end shells feeding the tubes placed on different radii or, alternatively, the scoops of the tubes placed on the larger radius may be formed in such a way that the overflow of these tubes feeds, by means of their scoops, the tubes placed on the smaller radius.

In the embodiment shown, the scoops are obtained by cutting back the end of the tubes. They can also be made of steel plate and welded onto the end of the tubes. The scoops, like the enclosures themselves, may have dilferent shapes, depending on the products to be treated.

The riding mechanism is composed, partly of a riding ring and roller assembly 3, the riding ring being fixed on the cylindrical feed-end shell or on the tubular body, and partly of a thrust bearing pillow block 4 placed at the end of the body on the extension of the central tube, this pillow block being alternatively replaced by a small riding ring on support rollers.

The drive mechanism 5 is a floating reducer connected to the end of the central tube. Alternatively, the central tube may be driven by a chain, a gear assembly, a coupling connection or any other system.

The body can be equipped with heat exchange elements, such as flow blades for example, the length of these blades being dependent on that of the tubes and their fitting being by bolting, welding or shrinking.

What is claimed is:

1. A rotating heat exchanger apparatus com-prising a plurality of contiguous, independent enclosures of suitable geometric cross-section and each having a feed end and a discharge end, said enclosures being fixed together forming a self-supporting bundle, a cylindrical feed shell at the feed end of said bundle and means to drive said bundle into rotation.

2. A rotating heat exchanger apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising integral scoop means formed by the removal of a portion of the ends of said enclosures sadiacent said feed shell, said scoops serving to introduce material to be treated into said enclosures.

3. A rotating heat exchanger apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising heat exchange masses mounted within each said enclosure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,653,393 9/1953 Bojner 263-33 X 2,845,259 7/ 1958 Henrichsen 26332 3,076,270 2/1963 Madsen 263-33 X FOREIGN PATENTS 30,643 5/ 1931 Austrailia. 369,352 3/1932 Great Britain.

JOHN J. CAMBY, Primary Examiner. 

